All work and no play? No way, kindergarteners say
Just how hard should kindergarteners be pushed to learn? For years, the debate has raged about whether kindergarten has become “the new first grade.” EarlyStories has seen countless studies and articles on the topic, and listened to many arguments about why the new accountability and standards in vogue in education mean that the youngest learners [...]
PreK-3: Getting teachers AND administrators ready for a new model in early education
The latest and most promising education reform in the early education realm, at least according to many advocates, is PreK-3 . The idea is to streamline curriculum and instructional approaches so that the transition from preschool to K-12 is seamless. It’s also to get educators from both sides of the line talking to each other [...]
Tennessee pre-k and the third-grade fade: truth or politics?
It’s been interesting to watch reaction in the state of Tennessee to research showing that students who participate in pre-kindergarten programs do better than their peers for their first two years of school, but have no advantage at all by the time they get to third-grade. Stories in The Tennessean ‘s office on the effectiveness [...]
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz: The most remarkable word I’ve ever seen
Despite increasing pressure to make kindergarten more rigorous, the cognitive capacity of children’s brains hasn’t changed much over the past century, a new study by the Gesell Institute of Human Development says. A triangle is still a mystery to most four-year-olds, and counting 20 pennies and then remembering that number is beyond most five-year-olds. At [...]
Why is a kindergarten kid roaming hallways?
It’s often frustrating to read stories about mix-ups involving the littlest learners, especially when it’s hard to know exactly what happened and why. Today’s New York Daily News, for example, carries a heart wrenching tale of a five-year-old boy wandering the hallways of his overcrowded elementary school in Queens after his mother fought to get [...]
The great kindergarten debate, California style
Kindergarten students these days have a lot in common with middler schoolers. Visit any middle school and you are likely to be struck instantly by the vast differences in the size of students. There are plenty of small, still childish looking 13 and 14-year-olds who look as if they’d be more comfortable in an elementary [...]
Should gifted pre-schoolers be isolated, nurtured?
The little things young children do and say can be so amazing that it’s hard to imagine not thinking of all children as gifted. The very word is fraught, though, and has led to years of debate about what constitutes a gifted child. How should the quality be measured and how should the littlest learners [...]
Lessons in early learning from Montgomery County
At a time when budget cuts are derailing public pre-kindergarten programs and other districts are trying to figure out how to integrate early learning, the Montgomery County school system in Maryland is touting a model for success they believe can be replicated to help narrow the achievement gap. The report is available on the website [...]
One way to improve early childhood ed: leadership
With all the talk about budget cuts and other ways early childhood education is being hurt in the recession, it was refreshing to read a piece that looks at other obstacles and ways to improve the quality of early learning. Education Week points out that elementary school principals in the U.S. don’t get sufficient professional [...]
Wait, does study mean kindergarten teachers should be paid more?
It’s well established that children who skip kindergarten typically fall behind their classmates, and much research points to the value of a high-quality pre-kindergarten experience coming first. There has been less discussion about the impact of a kindergarten teacher on the future earnings of little learners. A new study that made its way to the [...]
